ADA, Okla. – The East Central University baseball team finished 0-3 over the weekend as they fell to Arkansas Tech University in both games of their doubleheader on Saturday at Ken Turner Field.
 
The Tigers started off strong in the opening game of the day, striking the board first after Nick Blankenship dropped down a perfect squeeze bunt to score Britton Sperry before Christian Whitaker's RBI single to right field drove home Cooper Hunt for an early 2-0 lead.
 
Arkansas Tech left base runners stranded for three straight innings until the top of the fourth inning when they exploded for eight runs on five hits and two Tiger errors for an 8-2 lead.
 
The Tigers cut the deficit down to five runs in the home half when Duncan Key singled to plate Dione Allen to trail 8-3, but two more runs in the fifth and one in the sixth would extend the Wonder Boys' lead to 11-3.
 
An inning later, Arkansas Tech would put up another crooked number as they tabbed nine runs on five hits to pull away for good with a commanding 20-3 lead.
 
ECU got some momentum going again in the bottom of the seventh inning after Ian Mason's bases-loaded walk, Allen's single, and Boatman's hit by pitch scored three more runs for the Tigers.
 
However, the deficit was too large to come back from, and the Wonder Boys would settle the game one score 20-6.
 
Bryan Terry took the loss, pitching 3.1 innings while giving up four runs on five hits.
 
Britton Sperry went 3-for-4 at the plate while Dione Allen had two hits, and Cooper Hunt, Tanner Collins, Christian Whitaker, and Duncan Key each had one.
 
Game two saw Arkansas Tech strike first and never look back as the Wonder Boys put up seven runs in the top of the second to break open the game early.
 
ECU responded in the home half with Christian Whitaker scoring on a wild pitch to get the Tigers on the board, but the Wonder Boys would tab two more runs in their column in the top of the fourth inning to extend their lead to 9-1.
 
The Tigers picked up another run in the fourth and fifth, though, after Mason's sacrifice fly drove in Whitaker, and Key's walk scored Hunt to cut the lead down to 9-3.
 
However, after the Wonder Boys added an insurance run in the sixth, Key's RBI single in the seventh wasn't enough to come back, and Arkansas Tech would secure the series win with a 10-4 final score.
 
Carson Thomas took the loss, going 6.0 innings and giving up 10 runs on seven hits.
 
Nick Blankenship, Christian Whitaker, Duncan Key, Ian Mason, and Tanner Collins had one hit.
 
The East Central University baseball team will be back at Ken Turner Field on Tuesday, April 18, with a midweek contest against Southern Nazarene University at 3 p.m.